Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I’ve posted this before but it is a different recipe. I did some changes to the recipe and also tinted the glutinous with some bunga telang(butterfly pea or clitorea ternated) given to me by Sonia when I went back to Malaysia early this year. This flower which was used to blue the rice in nasi kerabu (rice salad) or nyonya kueh but now many of them just used the blue coloring. To obtain the color from the bunga telang, the blooms are dried in the sun before storing. When required, they are soaked in water to allow the color to seep out and subsequently, obtain the rich blue color. My friend Sue given me some seeds and I planted it during summer. I think I planted it a bit too late and by the time it started to flower it was already late summer so I didn’t get much flowers out of it. I kept quite a bit of seeds for my next season planting.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

I made these sometime ago when corns were at their peak during summer. I will usually grill or boil it but this time I made some fritters out of it. I used a bit of oil to pan fried them in a non stick pan and it turn out more like a pancakes. The fritters were crispy on the edges and tender in the middle. We had this with my homemade chili sauce.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Now what is this exotic Prickly Pear?? They are known to few, the fruit of the nopales cactus (cacti with beaver tail-like paddles), are actually edible. Called prickly pears, these vibrant magenta color fruits are delicious,they taste like a cross between watermelon and pear. The best way to eat this is just cut it into halve and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. The juice is often used to make jam or candy, but works wonders in cocktails and used in vinaigrettes for salads. I've seen people used the juice to flavor cream cheese frosting for cakes and have seen others boil it down with a bit of orange and lemon juice to make a sauce for fruit salads and cheesecakes.

We used to have one huge cactus plant at my mom house and there were plenty of these fruits on it but during that time we have no clue that they are edible. So the birds had a field time eating the sweet fruits.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Yes, we have a winner. The person who guessed the flavor correctly is Wendy of Table for 2 or More. The Chiffon Cake is made out of Prickly Pears. The recipe and details of the fruits will be coming up next. Thank you everyone for taking the time to participate. There are some very good guesses and I will be making some of the flavor that you suggested. Do come back and check out another one of my giveaway soon.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Can anyone guess what the flavor of this chiffon cake is? The first correct answer will receive some gifts from me.

Oh, in case you are wondering, this is open to anyone anywhere in the world and not just for USA readers. Remember to leave your email address in your comment. Dateline for this guessing game will be on the 24th November 2010 at 11.00am (Eastern Time) Good Luck.

Update 11/22/2010 (7.30pm): Still no right answer yet. I know the cake color might be a bit misleading. This cake is made out of one type of fruit and not sure what happen as it turn bright orange after baking. Hope this help with the guessing :)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

This braid is very similar to my Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf but this time I made the dough from scratch rather than using the store bought kind. I mix the dough and let it rise overnight and in the morning I just shape it up and we have freshly bake bread for our breakfast or brunch. It might takes some time to prepare this bread but the results are worth the extra effort.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

This is a hearty autumn and winter soup that will warm your family from the inside out. This beef and potato soup is richly flavored, nutritious but it is also light on calories. I prepared a large pot of this and freeze some of it up so we can have a warm bowl of soup anytime we want it.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

These are one finger licking ribs. The meat is so tender and juicy that it falls off the bones easily. The sauce is sweet, tangy and with a light hint of 5 spice powder. The secret of cooking this tender ribs is wrap it up in foil and let it cook long and slow in the oven. Normally we will grill it on the BBQ after the baking part but since we already clean up BBQ set so I did it all in the oven. The results are just as good except minus for the smoky flavor.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Marcus of Ile De France sent me a sample of Camembert to try out. This mild soft and creamy cheese which has a wonderful aromatic mushrooms and nutty undertones is crafted in Normandy from local RBST free pasteurized cow milk. The herds spend most of their time outside, grazing in the fields of Normandy; known for its temperate climate and rich soil.

I made these wonderful tarts with the mushroom and tomato and pair it with the camembert. The combination of flavors is just great and this one is a real winner. Why not try this out for your coming Thanksgiving gathering or Christmas party. I am pretty sure it will be a crowd pleaser.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Ipoh is famous of their hor fun (flat rice noodles). The star of this noodle dish is the silky-smooth flat noodles, or as the locals calls it, hor fun. Around Ipoh, vendors may serve the hor fun in a clear chicken broth, or with chicken-and-shrimp broth. I actually cooked this noodles many months and only post it now as I totally forgoteen about it.

A handful of dried shrimps, soaked for 5 minutes in hot water, then drained
About 1 pound shrimp heads and shells
a handful of rock sugar
a small handful of peppercorns
4 tbsp oil
1 liter of chicken stock

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

This is another classic Chinese dish originated from Taiwan. The main ingredients for this dish are using 1 cup soy sauce, one cup of sesame oil, one cup of rice wine and a generous amount of Thai basil leaves. That is how it got its name 3 cups chicken (san bei ji) The first time I tasted this dish was when I went home last year and my BIL CK took me to a famous Taiwanese restaurant called Fong Lye. Once I tasted the dish I fell in love with it. So here is my version of 3 cups chicken but I didn’t use the whole cup of sesame oil and soy sauce. I think that is a bit too much for me but do feel free to adjust the amount of marinate to your liking.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

This cake is made with dark brown sugar. So far I think this is the first butter cake I made using dark brown sugar and I was pretty satisfied with the outcome. The brown sugar gives the cake a rich, buttery, caramel like flavor, almost like butterscotch. The cake taste even better the next day.

Saturday, November 06, 2010

When the weather gets cold I get lazy too. There are days I like something simple for my lunch. No elaborate preparation or cooking. I bought a huge bag of okra/lady fingers from the produce place for only $2.00 and beside stir-fry with eggs or put it in curries this is how I like it. Simple and delicious!!

Thursday, November 04, 2010

This is one of the favorite tea time snacks in Malaysia and you can usually find stalls selling them by road side stall in the afternoon or at the night market. This is something so readily available back home and I don’t usually make them. But here in the US when craving strike I have to make it myself. The last time I made this was in 2007 when my sisters came to visit us so it is time to make some for my evening tea and keep some for my mee rebus.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

When I went to the Latin store I will usually get a few jars of DDL. I used a jar for Carlos birthday cake and there were some leftover from it and decided to used it for Chiffon Cake. This was the first time I bake chiffon cake with it and I love the outcome of it. The cake has a nice fragrant of DDL and not too sweet. Even Carlos who never likes chiffon cake eats it. Do you think I convert him into liking chiffon cake? I don’t think so. If you ask me it is not the chiffon cake he likes but it is more of the DDL I drizzle on top ha ha… For this cake I used the Rainbow Chiffon Cake recipe but with very slight changes.

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All photographs and written content featured at My Kitchen Snippets are by Gertrude Patane unless otherwise stated. If you are interested in using the contents or photographs please ask for permission first. If you re-post a recipe, please give credit and post a link back to this site. Please do not alter, transform or build upon any aspect of her work without prior consent.

About Me

I was born and raised in Malaysia and now live in Northern California, USA with my wonderful husband Carlos. I love to bake and cook. It is very relaxing and I find my creativity flowing in the kitchen. I creates this blog to record all my cooking and baking adventures and also share my tested recipes with you.
I don’t consider myself an expert but all the recipes here are tried and tested by me, unless noted otherwise.
If you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to do so, If you’re feeling shy or have a question about a recipe, drop me a line instead. My e.mail address is at my profile.
To know more about my life you can always hop over to my other blog.